‘Torso killer’ who cut victims’ hands and head off admits to five more murders

An infamous serial killer nicknamed the 'torso killer', had admitted to five more murders.

Richard Cottingham, 76, was convicted of killing six women in the 13 years between 1967 and 1980 in New York and New Jersey, the Daily Mirror reports.

What made his case even more infamous was his horrific practice of carving up and leaving the mutilated bodies.

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The 76-year-old is currently serving a life-sentence in prison in New Jersey but is now expected to admit to the murder and rape of 23-year-old dance teacher Diane Cusick in 1968.

This comes as he has also admitted to the killings of four other women in Nassau County in 1972 and 1973.

Cusick had gone out to buy a new pair of shoes when she failed to return home from a trip to the shopping centre.

She was later found murdered, with the killer never caught.

Thanks to DNA testing however, Cottingham was eventually linked to her murder, in what could prove to be the oldest DNA testing to lead to a prosecution in US history according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.

In June this year, the dad-of-three was charged for the killing of the dance teacher after DNA testing showed he was responsible for her death.

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The victim's daughter thanked the authorities for not giving up on her mum's case, saying: “I never thought I’d see this day. I had given up, but all these people got justice for me and for my mother.”

The killer is due to enter a plea via a video link from his cell in New Jersey where he is serving his life sentence.

The killings Cottingham has been linked to have already been proven, including the two women who were found at a hotel near Times Square with their missing heads and hands in December 1979.

Cottingham, who was married and worked as a computer programmer for a health insurance company in New York, was arrested in 1980 after a hotel maid heard a woman screaming in his room.

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